Wyndham Shearwater rental question

[char2007]

I booked a week online through Wyndham's own Extra Holidays just before Christmas for the first week in April (week after Easter). I paid the deposit through their link that took me to Paypal and received the confirmation email. One month later, I receive an email from both Paypal and American Express (the card I used), stating that my deposit was returned. I immediately started calling Wyndham, and the first person to answer said that they were probably overbooked but I could stay at another of their Kauai resorts. I stated that I had $5000 worth of plane tickets and I didn't want to stay anywhere else. So he gave me another number to call. So far, over the past week, I have talked to reservation specialists, timeshare representatives, customer support for Wyndham, and an accountant for Wyndham. These were not people I requested to speak to, it's the crazy chain I've been routed through. So far, I still have nothing in writing that says I have a guaranteed reservation now that my deposit was returned. I've been told that my reservation still exists for the Shearwater by several people, but no one wants to take my deposit.

I wouldn't be as worried about all of this if the first person I spoke to hadn't said they were probably overbooked and they would accommodate me in one of their 'lesser' timeshares. I do not own through Wyndham, I'm just a renter.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Does anyone have any advice. I don't want to get there in April and find that I'm being shipped off to one of their other resorts.

 

[Jan M.]

If they returned your deposit then technically you have no reservation and no guarantee they will even have something at one of their other resorts either. For the time being your reservation still exists in the system but it is impossible to say if it still will exist by the time you get to Hawaii. I would start looking for something else asap.

 

[vice]

I find your situation highly concerning but I am not surprised by anything Wyndham does anymore. Out of curiosity, I checked availability for Shearwater through the Wydham points owners site and there is no availability at all in 2018 showing at the moment for Shearwater. If you can't get a straight answer from them tomorrow let me know the exact check in date and I will check with the floating week I have at Shearwater, if you would like me to. I returned from a trip to Shearwater last month and made it a point to visit all of the other Wyndham locations on Kauai, and none of them compare to Shearwater if views matter to you.

I booked a week online through Wyndham's own Extra Holidays just before Christmas for the first week in April (week after Easter). I paid the deposit through their link that took me to Paypal and received the confirmation email. One month later, I receive an email from both Paypal and American Express (the card I used), stating that my deposit was returned. I immediately started calling Wyndham, and the first person to answer said that they were probably overbooked but I could stay at another of their Kauai resorts. I stated that I had $5000 worth of plane tickets and I didn't want to stay anywhere else. So he gave me another number to call. So far, over the past week, I have talked to reservation specialists, timeshare representatives, customer support for Wyndham, and an accountant for Wyndham. These were not people I requested to speak to, it's the crazy chain I've been routed through. So far, I still have nothing in writing that says I have a guaranteed reservation now that my deposit was returned. I've been told that my reservation still exists for the Shearwater by several people, but no one wants to take my deposit.

I wouldn't be as worried about all of this if the first person I spoke to hadn't said they were probably overbooked and they would accommodate me in one of their 'lesser' timeshares. I do not own through Wyndham, I'm just a renter.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Does anyone have any advice. I don't want to get there in April and find that I'm being shipped off to one of their other resorts.

 

[char2007]

If they returned your deposit then technically you have no reservation and no guarantee they will even have something at one of their other resorts either. For the time being your reservation still exists in the system but it is impossible to say if it still will exist by the time you get to Hawaii. I would start looking for something else asap.

It's a crazy situation, but I believe you are right

 

[char2007]

I find your situation highly concerning but I am not surprised by anything Wyndham does anymore. Out of curiosity, I checked availability for Shearwater through the Wydham points owners site and there is no availability at all in 2018 showing at the moment for Shearwater. If you can't get a straight answer from them tomorrow let me know the exact check in date and I will check with the floating week I have at Shearwater, if you would like me to. I returned from a trip to Shearwater last month and made it a point to visit all of the other Wyndham locations on Kauai, and none of them compare to Shearwater if views matter to you.

I've stayed at Shearwater three times and I know it is the best place on the island....I'm also familiar with Pahio's other locations, having stayed in each of them once....and I would not want to stay there. I appreciate your offer. I'll try and get some word within the next two days.

 

[char2007]

I've stayed at Shearwater three times and I know it is the best place on the island....I'm also familiar with Pahio's other locations, having stayed in each of them once....and I would not want to stay there. I appreciate your offer. I'll try and get some word within the next two days.

I should also mention that the day that I booked through Extra Holidays, December 23, there were three openings.

 

[ecwinch]

I agree with JanM. They returned your deposit, so legally I doubt you have a reservation. You certainly can argue that you detrimentally relied on their multiple assurances you had a reservation, but it will likely be an uphill fight.

So four outcomes exist:
- You show up and they hand you the keys to a Shearwater unit - SCORE!
- You show up and they tell you they cancelled your reservation. You fight and they hand you keys to a Shearwater unit
- You show up and they tell you they cancelled your reservation. You fight and they hand you keys to a Kauai unit somewhere else
- They say you have no reservation

Given all the problems Wyndham has had with overbooking lately, I think the likelyhood you get a Shearwater unit is lower than the other outcomes. In any case, I would have a well-document call log of everyone I spoke to on the issue, with the date/time of the call.